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Gates Hopeful of Improved China Relationship

   VOA News 12 January 2011
   U.S.  Defense  Secretary  Robert  Gates talks while visiting the Great
   Wall in Mutianyu, China, 12 Jan 2011

Photo: AP

   U.S.  Defense  Secretary  Robert  Gates talks while visiting the Great
   Wall in Mutianyu, China, 12 Jan 2011

   U.S.  Defense  Secretary Robert Gates has wrapped up his four-day trip
   to  China  saying he found both civilian and military leaders ready to
   carry the U.S.-China relationship to the next level.
   Gates  spent Wednesday touring the nation's nuclear command center and
   visiting  the  Great  Wall north of Beijing before flying to Japan. He
   will be in South Korea Friday.
   Gates  said  he  enjoyed  candid  conversations with commanders at the
   nuclear  warfare  headquarters,  including  a  discussion  of  China's
   nuclear  strategy.   He said the commander of the facility in Qinghe,
   outside  Beijing,  has accepted an invitation to pay a return visit to
   the U.S. Strategic Command headquarters in the U.S. state of Nebraska.
   Gates  said  he  was  pleased with the results of his visit, which was
   intended  to restore direct contacts between the two militaries with a
   goal  of  avoiding  misunderstanding  and  miscalculations. He said he
   believed   his   meetings   had   "set   the   stage  for  taking  the
   military-to-military relationship to the next level."
   The  major  surprise  of the visit was China's decision to conduct the
   first test flight of its prototype stealth jet fighter on the same day
   Gates  was  meeting  with  President Hu Jintao. A senior U.S. official
   said  Mr.  Hu  and  his civilian aides appeared not to be aware of the
   test until the Americans questioned them about it.
   That  prompted  speculation about a split between China's civilian and
   military  leadership.  But  Gates  said  Wednesday he did not detect a
   rift.  He said, "What came across to me was that both the civilian and
   military leadership seem determined to carry this relationship further
   and to build upon it."
   During  his talks with Mr. Hu on Tuesday, Gates asked for China's help
   in  getting  North  Korea  to abandon its nuclear and intercontinental
   missile programs, which he said can pose a threat to the United States
   within  five  years.  Gates is expected to hold further discussions on
   North Korea in Tokyo and Seoul.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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